Dhaka Gladiators win BPL

MIRPUR – West Indies batsman Kieron Pollard misfired once again but a mix of the unheralded, the young and a Twenty20 stalwart in Mosharraf Hossain, Anamul Haque and Alfonso Thomas still helped Dhaka Gladiators to a second consecutive BPL title with a 43-run win over Chittagong Kings today.

When Enamul Haque jnr was run out by Darren Stevens in the 17th over, it ended a campaign in which they were favourites from start to finish.

During the Kings’ chase of 173, Mosharraf took three crucial wickets in the middle to trigger a collapse, and for this he was the Man of the Match.

The left-arm spinner broke the promising 25-run second-wicket partnership between Nurul Hasan and Jason Roy. Nurul holed out to long-off before Saqlain Sajib took the wicket of England’s Ravi Bopara, a batsman not in the best of form.

Mosharraf then took the key wicket of Ryan ten Doeschate, caught at point by Tillakaratne Dilshan for just 2. A ball later, he bowled Roy to leave the Kings struggling at 65 for 5 in the ninth over.

Roy had made 40 off 28 balls with six boundaries, but his dismissal took the sting out of the Kings chase. From 50 for 1 in the Powerplay, they were reduced to 70 for 5 at the end of ten overs.

Kings captain Mahmudullah was their last hope but he fell in the 17th over. Saqlain took an impressive diving catch at short third-man to dismiss the all-rounder, who scored 44 off 28 balls with three sixes and three fours.

At the start of the contest, though, the Kings looked the better of the two teams. After asking Gladiators to bat, they struck early with the wicket of Tillakaratne Dilshan via an in-ducker, before Anamul laid the foundation for a strong total with a sprightly knock.

Anamul added 44 runs for the second wicket with Mohammad Ashraful to ensure a smooth Powerplay, until Ashraful holed out to cover for 24. Shakib joined Anamul, and the third-wicket pair added 48 runs in just 31 balls.Anamul reached his half-century by hitting Mahmudullah for two consecutive sixes in the 10th over, but he was cleaned up by Rubel Hossain in the next, for 58 off 36 balls with six fours and the two sixes.

Pollard struck one boundary in his 9 before he was bowled by Bopara, and Shakib was caught on the boundary by Bopara for 41 off 29 balls. He was also dropped twice, first by Nurul Hasan on 23, and soon after by ten Doeschate on 24. The dismissals of Pollard and Shakib slowed the Gladiators towards the end of the inning and they scored only 38 runs in the last five overs, and lost five wickets.

Rubel, who had three catches dropped off his bowling, took three wickets in the penultimate over of the innings, removing Josh Cobb, Stevens and Mashrafe Mortaza to finish with four wickets. Young Taskin Ahmed was impressive once again, taking two wickets.

Search in Archive

Select a MonthSelect a CategorySearch with Google

Barbados Today

Our mission is to keep you informed. Do you have news, know of an event or a personality deserving of coverage? Contact us today! Nothing or no one is too big or too small for us at Barbados Today to highlight. You can also take your own good quality photographs of community events and drop us a note with the details.